Rare TripsYouMustDo Posted July 15 #1 Share Posted July 15 (edited) Hey folks, I am hoping to get some suggestions as to who to reach out to and how to resolve this. I think there is some cruise advocacy group/firm I've heard about that arbitrates sometimes, or maybe I can email richard@virginvoyages.com, or something like that? I've been trying to resolve this with VV for over a year without much success. I went on my first cruise with VV in March of 2023 out of Miami on Scarlet Lady. It included a stop in Bimini, which offered Hammerhead Sharks scuba diving shore excursion (through VV to be clear). It was a blast, but took very long, and we were rushing going back to the ship (our excursion group was the last people back on the ship, the pulled the gangway right after). While rinsing my dive gear back in my cabin, I realized I forgot my dive computer on the dive boat. I immediately went to the shore excursions desk and spoke with shore excursion staff M (full name omitted for privacy). Turned out the dive shop found my dive computer and already called the cruise line. Unfortunately since they literally pulled the gangway as soon as the last divers got on the ship, the dive shop didn't have a chance to give them back the dive computer that day. M got all of my info, and assured me they would pick up the dive computer on the next sailing to Bimini (which was going to take a couple of weeks), and they would send it to my home address. Great I think, what wonderful service. Little did I know. A few month go by, and my computer is nowhere to be seen. I call VV and ask them about it. They act just like all other cruise line (no, their service is *not* better or *the best in the industry*). They tell me to file a report in their "Lost and Found". Why? They already had the report they took on Scarlett during the cruise and had all the info. But OK, I follow instructions and file report. A few weeks go buy, I check the report and find out it's closed with "not enough information". Huh? At that time I already had another cruise booked with VV (Greek Isles out of Athens, last year in September, the Celebration/President's cruise with Richard and the crowd). I figure I'll square it away on the ship. Meanwhile I email the dive shop to confirm VV got the computer from them. Shop owner has one of his staff forward me screenshot from his cellphone with message thread with VV showing they (VV) picked up the dive computer from the dive shop. I have the name of the VV crew that picked up the dive computer, as well as the names of everyone in the dive shop involved. On the next cruise, on the ship (Resilient out of Athens), I go to guest services, explain the situation, and they try to help. They say the personally know shore excursion crew "M" and will try to get in touch. They send me a message that my case was escalated and give me a case # for reference. I am assured again that all is well and will be resolved. That was September of 2023. By know I already have a new dive computer, and of course I *still* haven't heard from VV or gotten my dive computer back. Last time I tried communicating with them they just told me to file another Lost & Found report on their web site. I'm sorry, doing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. So outside of filing the Lost & Found report again, are there any other suggestions? I am booked with them for three more cruises this year (I guess I am a glutton for punishment, lol, no actually they are pretty good outside of the occasional colossal service lapses, as this report reports 🙂 ). I am actually going to be on yet another Celebration cruise out of Miami this time (the one on August 29th). I guess I can try talking to the CEO (he was available to talk to, Richard just waved to everyone from the balcony last year, unreachable and unapproachable). Thanks much for all the good info everyone is sharing, and hope you folks can suggest something I'm not thinking of myself. I really don't want to get lawyers involved for a $1000 lost item they didn't return (even though they retrieved, and I have a documented proof), but I'm really annoyed at this point. Edited July 15 by TripsYouMustDo Grammar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Cloud9 Bob Posted July 15 #2 Share Posted July 15 (edited) If it were me, I would find someone higher up in corporate and write them the exact thing you posted here. I just think the right people have not heard about this yet. I wish you the best in a very frustrating situation. Edited July 15 by Cloud9 Bob 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaysha2004 Posted July 15 #3 Share Posted July 15 I'm sorry you're having such difficulty retrieving your computer. Have you been documenting all your interactions with VV, i.e., date, time, person on the call? This helps when you call and follow up. At this point, it's time to get aggressive with very frequent phone calls until you reach the right person who can handle the issue. Is it possible it's still on the ship in the Lost & Found? I doubt it, but you never know. There's no reason for this taking so long, but with so much time that has passed, you may not see your computer again and may have to pursue financial reimbursement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric&Pam Posted July 16 #4 Share Posted July 16 Virgin uses a contractor based in Orlando to handle Lost & Found items. They supposedly off load all found items at the end of each cruise into an Anvil case, and it is shipped to Orlando where the items are inventoried and compared to reports filed at: https://www.sailorslostandfound.com/ It took 2 or 3 weeks just for my lost item to get cataloged in the Orlando office, and the contractor's shipping rates were nuts. $35 to send a few ounces from Orlando to Atlanta with the Fedex Saver rate. I had 3 bottles of wine shipped the same method, the same day from Upstate NY for only $20. I suggested to Virgin that they find a new contractor due to my experience. It took a month and multiple phone calls for my item to finally be returned. Since your item was lost at Bimini, and not on your ship, it probably had to wait until the next ship came to port, and I wonder if your item was inventoried as coming from an entirely different ship/sailing date because of this, or if it made it to the ship at all. According to terms listed on the Lost & Found website, unclaimed items are sold after a certain number of days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaysha2004 Posted August 11 #5 Share Posted August 11 Did you ever get a resolution to your lost dive computer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare TripsYouMustDo Posted September 1 Author #6 Share Posted September 1 Hey folks, thank you very much to all that replied. No, unfortunately I haven't gotten a resolution yet. I am on the Celebration Voyage right now with the CEO Nirmal and some other top execs. I was hoping to speak to him yesterday during the "CEO Cocktail Hour" but I did not see him. I did email the CEO and several other top execs who's email addresses I found on https://www.elliott.org/company-contacts/virgin-voyages/ but I haven't heard back. Some of them are not with the company anymore, but Michelle Bentubo still is and is actually on this voyage as well. Also of course Nirmal is the CEO now. I am going to contact guest services on this ship as well trying to get the resolution. I did file a case with Lost Returns last year which was closed with Not Enough Information. I also just reached out to Eliott Advocacy, which is the firm I was thinking of earlier. I got a response from them and I hope they will advocate my case on my behalf as well. I will keep this thread updated with results. No response from any of the execs I emailed so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretchendz Posted September 1 #7 Share Posted September 1 (edited) Yikes! Sorry this happened to you. You have done a great job of documenting all you could. I suppose you did not use a travel avisor? If you did, I hope you have asked them to work on this for you. Our agencies usually have higher-ups we can escalate an issue like this for on behalf of our clients. I agree with @Cloud9 Bob. I don't think talking to Execs on board is as likely to help resolve this as putting all your infomation, screenshots, documents and all and getting it escalated internally. Another question--did you happen to buy travel insurance? Some will cover lost or stolen items. Edited September 1 by Gretchendz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare TripsYouMustDo Posted September 1 Author #8 Share Posted September 1 Thank you! I did ask Guest Services on the ship to escalate just now (since I couldn't talk to the CEO Nirmal yesterday), and also emailed "landside" sailor services email with all documentation (screenshot, closed Lost Returns report, etc.) attached asking to escalate as well. Guest Services on the ship told me they escalated to the upper management, but wouldn't confirm that either Michelle or Nirmal are actually aware of the issue. No, I didn't use a travel agent - the cruise was purchased on points directly through the cruise line. Also no travel insurance unfortunately. It probably would've been too late to file a claim by now I would guess since the original incident was 3/30/2023, well over a year ago. Since VV have been winning all the "best in service" awards on every site and travel magazine, I didn't expect (back in 2023, after my first cruise with them, lol) for the service to actually be as bad as it is, and waited too long to start escalating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretchendz Posted September 1 #9 Share Posted September 1 51 minutes ago, TripsYouMustDo said: Thank you! I did ask Guest Services on the ship to escalate just now (since I couldn't talk to the CEO Nirmal yesterday), and also emailed "landside" sailor services email with all documentation (screenshot, closed Lost Returns report, etc.) attached asking to escalate as well. Guest Services on the ship told me they escalated to the upper management, but wouldn't confirm that either Michelle or Nirmal are actually aware of the issue. No, I didn't use a travel agent - the cruise was purchased on points directly through the cruise line. Also no travel insurance unfortunately. It probably would've been too late to file a claim by now I would guess since the original incident was 3/30/2023, well over a year ago. Since VV have been winning all the "best in service" awards on every site and travel magazine, I didn't expect (back in 2023, after my first cruise with them, lol) for the service to actually be as bad as it is, and waited too long to start escalating. Gotcha. Best of luck! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare TripsYouMustDo Posted Wednesday at 08:44 PM Author #10 Share Posted Wednesday at 08:44 PM (edited) Wonders never cease! After escalating through Valiant sailor services, and shore-side sailor services, and being assured Michelle was made aware of the issue, I did get a call today from Virgin shore team (I just got off of the ship)! They don't have the dive computer anymore but are willing to reimburse me. I sent them the receipt. They are promising it's going to take only about a week, which is great. I hope next week I will post the final update to this thread that VV did the right thing and I am a happy customer. I am fully willing to give credit where credit is due. Thanks everyone for the advice! Edited Wednesday at 08:48 PM by TripsYouMustDo 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare TripsYouMustDo Posted Thursday at 09:58 PM Author #11 Share Posted Thursday at 09:58 PM Things are happening with stupefying speed (after year and half delay, lol) - already got a payment link today and initiated payment process. Last step is to confirm that money shows up in my account, but this is the service I would've expected from "Best in Service" company. Well done VV. I'll post a final update next week (money should be in my account 9/9). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare DCGuy64 Posted yesterday at 12:13 PM #12 Share Posted yesterday at 12:13 PM 14 hours ago, TripsYouMustDo said: Things are happening with stupefying speed (after year and half delay, lol) - already got a payment link today and initiated payment process. Last step is to confirm that money shows up in my account, but this is the service I would've expected from "Best in Service" company. Well done VV. I'll post a final update next week (money should be in my account 9/9). Wow, that is great news. Kudos to you for acknowledging that VV came through for you! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare TripsYouMustDo Posted yesterday at 01:37 PM Author #13 Share Posted yesterday at 01:37 PM 1 hour ago, DCGuy64 said: Wow, that is great news. Kudos to you for acknowledging that VV came through for you! Thanks! As I said, I think VV overall is a pretty good company - otherwise I would've never gone with them on a second cruise, let alone 4 more cruises. 🙂 I was just getting aggravated over this taking a year and a half with no results. Money posted in our account today, overnight VV totally came through for us in the end. The issue is fully resolved. I am not sure other, larger cruise lines would've handled matters this well even presented with all the evidence/documentation I had. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now